has been, in a variety of movies, most geographical features, cultural heritage and national character of the type of movie, personally think that when the number of Westerns, martial arts, samurai film. The traditional concept is that these films belong to the entertainment category and lack sufficient sincerity in expressing social significance. The fact is that in a special period, when free thought is imprisoned, these movie types, which are most easily overlooked by censorship, have become carriers for creators to express their ambitions.
In the United States, due to the ravages of McCarthyism, Western films with strong political symbols like "Noon" spawned; in Japan, in the 1950s and 1960s when American military control and the beginning of the end, a large number of metaphors from the past emerged. Samurai movies indirectly made the golden age of Japanese cinema; only in China, from the 1960s and 1970s to the end of the 1990s, when filmmakers’ self-creative themes were subject to severe censorship, martial arts movies did not flourish as a result. , Be regarded as an anomaly. For this reason, I think the filmmakers' lack of collective creative power and lack of courage to express themselves are the main reasons. For example, the recent appearance of numerous martial arts productions contains a little bit of political symbolism. However, at the same time in Hong Kong, on the projectile stage of great power political wrestling, before the so-called end of 1997, martial arts movies have reached their peak.
"THE SWORD OF DOOM", produced in 1966, is a non-traditional Japanese samurai movie. Although it tells a fictional samurai story, I think it contains many political images. Director Kihachi Okamoto is a filmmaker known for his satire, critical techniques, and surreal themes. His representative works "Independent Fools", "Meat Bullet", and "Elegant Life of Ebita Toshiman" are all masterpieces of this. Extending the story of "Great Bodhisattva Hill", the fate of the fictional protagonist Ryunosuke, the fate of Shinsengumi in the real history, and the fate of Japanese militarism in World War II all end in the same way. The individuals, groups and societies they represent are doomed to annihilation because of certain beliefs they hold. It is impossible to verify the specific reference only because of the information.
two
Among the 100 best Japanese films of the 20th century selected by Japan's "Cinema Shunbo", Kihachi Okamoto's "The Longest Day in Japan" (43) and "Meat Bomb" (91) were all selected; samurai alone In terms of films, Akira Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai" (1) (Silver Lion Award for Best Director at the Venice Film Festival), Masaki Kobayashi's "Abdomen" (14) (Cannes International Film Festival Jury Special Award), Uchida Yume "Miyamoto Musashi" (61-65) and so on are among them (Inaehiro's version of "Miyamoto Musashi" also won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film). Compared with the reputation of these works worldwide, "Big Buddha Ridge" is undoubtedly a masterpiece that is seriously underestimated.
Three
retrospective "The Sword of Doom," the origin, in the shadow of the director post this Kihachi behind, the two giants stood.
One is Zhongli Jieshan, the author of the original novel "Big Buddha Ridge" and a pioneer of Japanese popular literature. "Big Buddha Ridge" was serialized and published in "Mainichi Shimbun" and "Yomiuri Shimbun" successively in 1913. It was still unfinished until 1941. The serialization has a history of 28 years. It has 41 volumes and 1533 chapters, with a large number of words. With 5.7 million words, it is known as "the longest historical novel in the world". As an immortal masterpiece of Japanese popular novels, this story has been on the big screen 11 times before that. Masters such as Inagaki Hiroshi, Uchida Yume, and Misumi Kenji have all performed their skills here. Since then, no one has been there anymore. "Big Buddha Ridge" was adapted on the big screen. Art is meaningless and unprecedented, but Kihachi Okamoto's "Big Buddha Ridge" has undoubtedly reached a peak.
Another giant is Hashimoto Shinobu, one of the best film screenwriters in Japan. His works include such masterpieces as "Seven Samurai", "Cutting the Belly" and "Rashomon". From a mindful look, the 5.7 million-character story of "Big Bodhisattva Hill" is condensed into a 120-minute movie, which does not compromise the original style and expresses itself. In the meantime, only Hashimoto Shinobi is the tailoring work. The heavyweight behind the scenes can be competent.
Four
Regarding the novel "Big Buddha Ridge", it has not been published because it has not been published in China. However, in the written records I read, it has the following characteristics: the story is divided into several volumes, and there is no obvious structure; there are many characters with different destinies; the fate of the protagonist Unfinished. In the play, Hashimoto Shinobu removes the complicated plots and characters of the original novel, and embeds the complete correspondence into a simple three-act structure without breaking. The plots of the movie are all based on the first three volumes of the first part of the novel, namely "Koren Ichitoru no Scroll", "Suzuka Mountain Scroll" and "Mibujima Hara Scroll", and adopts an open ending, ingeniously corresponding to the follow-up of the original. story.
The three-act structure of the movie "Big Buddha Ridge" has a clear transformation of time and space. The first act took place in 1860, starting from the killing of the pilgrim old man by the Dragon of the Great Buddha Ridge, and leaving in the cedar forest; the second act occurred in 1862, from the meeting between the Serizawa Ya and the dragon, and the killing Until the death of Ahama; the third act takes place in 1863, from the meeting between Asson and Nishimura in Kyoto to the end of the story. The three-act structure divided by the transformation of time and space is not a simple plot, but it implies the growth process of the protagonist’s inner world, the fate theme expressed by the fate of the character, and a large number of other details. The content and form echo, with the same image repeated three times. , To express complex themes and ideas in the most concise way. This kind of minimalism fits the Tao of Three Lives as stated in the Tao Te Ching.
In the three-act structure of "Big Buddha Ridge", compared with the original content, some small plots are omitted at the end of each act. Some of these omitted contents are completely deleted, and some are placed in other plots. Except for content that has nothing to do with the main line, the rest are all deliberate operations. This kind of setting, just like the white space in traditional Chinese paintings, is exactly where Hashimoto Shinobu's skill lies.
The blank in the first act of the story, that is, the confession of Ryunosuke’s father’s fate, is supplemented in the narratives of the second and eight. This position adjustment not only avoids the straightforward narrative of the content, but also greatly enriches Ryunosuke’s story. Character depth. The blank at the end of the second act is to confess the fate of Ryunosuke’s son Ikutaro. After Ryunosuke killed his wife Ahama, Ikutaro’s cries arose and the plot stopped. This blank can have two interpretations of life or death. Looking at the content before and after the plot, it is obviously more reasonable to interpret it as death, but compared to the plot where Ryunosuke entrusts his son to Yohachi in the original work, this setting is The first advantage is that it avoids the rewriting of the original plot, and at the same time prevents the audience here from in-depth interpretation of Ryunosuke, and further deepens the complexity of the characters. The blank space in the third act is the open ending of the story. The interpretation of the two possibilities of life and death in Ryuujisuke also avoids conflicts with the plot of the original, and more importantly, it echoes the structure of the entire story. Make the character image consistent and maximize the alienation effect carefully created by the choreographer.
The alienation effect pursued by the whole film is, firstly, the story's subversion of the heroic image of the characters in the genre film, and secondly the unconventional lens language pursued by the director through composition, viewpoint conversion, cutting, and scene scheduling. The purpose of these techniques is to make the audience think about the fate of Ryunosuke from a proper distance, and then realize the uncertainty contained in his life.
Five
characters Dragon help represent, symbolic on two levels. These two levels refer to each other in the story, and penetrate each other, sublimating Ryunosuke's personal destiny to the Mahayana Buddhism, which has both the characteristics of the times and the destiny of life. This successful character creation is another masterpiece of Hashimoto Shinobu. The complete image of a character on the screen comes from the joint creation of screenwriters, directors, and actors. Specifically, the contributions of Kihachi Okamoto and Tatsuya Nakadai are indispensable in "Big Buddha Ridge", but Hashimoto Shinobu's refinement of the characters in the original work provides infinite possibilities for the interpretation of the latter two.
six
On the surface, Ryunosuke is a samurai on the verge of changing times. At that time, the Shogunate was declining, and the old and new forces started a life-and-death game, and people of all colors stepped onto the front desk. The dragon's assistant holds a long sword and follows the crowd to find the ideal of a samurai in troubled times. This is the common tragic story of small characters in the big era in the epic. At the same time, it is also a true portrayal of the gradual decline of the samurai class and the fading of the historical stage. Long Zhisuke has a good background and martial arts, life should be on a smooth road, but involuntarily sinking into troubled times, and eventually heading for extinction. The root of his tragic fate lies in the samurai way he insists on, which is a great irony to the spirit of the samurai. Another important figure in the story, the samurai wooden soldier who lives for revenge, is still waiting for the fate of a duel at the end, even with the help of the power of the gun, which is a variation on the same theme.
On this clue, the story begins with the beheading of the old pilgrim on the Big Bodhisattva Hill. Ryunosuke has always embraced the dignity and pride that a samurai deserves, in order to cope with ever-changing changes. The cruelty of sword testing is actually full of desire for victory, so when his father asked for a deliberate defeat, Ryunosuke was silent but tapped his fingers to reveal his unwillingness and injustice. Later, when Abin was unexpectedly willing to exchange the result of a sword match with a woman's chastity, the deliberate accusation turned into a challenge to self-commitment. Commitment comes first, dignity comes second, and the result of the competition can only be met with invincibility. However, since the emergence of Wen Zhi Cheng is in trouble, Long Zhizhi can only take action in order to protect himself. Since the opponent was dead, the pride of the samurai made him unable to accept the presiding judge of the draw, contrary to his own wishes and offending a large number of so-called righteous people of the predecessors. On the way down the mountain, all the samurai who came to provoke were killed. They were courteous but forced to kill them. Since then, they can only be extinct in the right way, and destiny has set the tone. In the opening scene, dark tides flourish, one choice after another, cause and effect are intertwined, and the plot is compact and breathtaking.
By the second act of the story, the plot slows down slightly. Long Zhisuke left his hometown and kept his name incognito. With martial arts, he could only be a killer who sacrificed his life for money. Living in poverty is embarrassing. Willing to work for Qin Ze Ya, and the Xinzheng team is close to each other, so it's not just a feeling of knowing encounters. Even if he exists as a ronin, he still hasn't slackened in the pursuit of martial arts. Passing by Shimada Dojo, because he heard Bijian's screaming, he went to challenge Kendo master Toranosuke on a whim. There are many ways for a ronin to survive, which are mentioned in Japanese period dramas. A very common one is to challenge the host of the local dojo, and then make a living by defeating the master to obtain a gift of silver. Ryunosuke is undoubtedly a ronin rather than a samurai at this time, but he did not choose such a rogue-like way of living, obviously he still has the grace that a samurai should have in his heart. The filming of this scene is very interesting and deep. Toranosuke undoubtedly had a despising heart. He arranged for the wooden soldiers and horses to play first. After his defeat, he did not take the shots as scheduled. For the stranger's unfamiliar swordsmanship, he obviously did not The confidence to win. A sly smile and an indifferent look completely revealed the mood of the two. But Ryunosuke didn't get entangled in this, and went away calmly.
The second act thus begins a parallel two-line narrative. On one side is the fate of Ryunosuke, and on the other is the fate of the wooden soldier horse and Asong whose direction has been changed by Ryunosuke. This kind of cross-narrative changes the rhythm and progress of the story. Although the line of Wooden Soldiers and Horses and Asong is in a relatively minor position, this line has enriched the three-dimensional sense of the story, and ingeniously used the characteristics of the times and related customs and customs. Incorporating into the story, the linear flat narrative is extended to a three-dimensional space, and the love story of the two also adds to the visibility of the story. These characters appearing around Ryunosuke are woven into a lingering net, appearing repeatedly in the three-act structure, which strongly strengthens the fate of the story, and at the same time cleverly paves the way for the ending of the story, that is, two The point where the clues rejoin.
Continue to follow Ryunosuke's line of fate of the samurai. He accepts the assassination mission and slays the kendo master Kojima with a sword on the ship. The smile on the side of the window behind him drinking and smiling, expressing his pride in swordsmanship and kendo entry, and also the pride of being a samurai. Then I talked to Abin about returning home to visit relatives, and the soft heart under the cold appearance was revealed. There was no dispute between the two on the topic of Kibei, but a trace of disharmony was exposed, laying the groundwork for Abin's later ending. Then came the appearance of Kamoto Kamio, a simple preparation, then a meeting with the Xinzheng team, and then a flirting scene with Omatsu. In just three scenes, a character was completely outlined, and the director used a pen. The simplicity is commendable. The character Kamio also has a certain political meaning in the story. He is a vested interest class in society, who is afraid of revolution and yearns for higher rights.
In a scene where they meet again, the singing voice is used as a medium to draw the two to meet, but the director deliberately dilutes the singing in the background until the two are close, and the scene is covered by Ryunosuke's strange behavior. The mystery hints at the importance of this scene. The singing of Ba and the one at the mill in the first act of the story and the previous one at homecoming are echoed. The subsequent scene flashed back, juxtaposing the three contradictions of Ryunosuke's cruel fate, the appearance of the samurai, and the soft heart, which powerfully aroused the inner ripples of the viewers, and it was indeed a magical pen of love.
Skip the account of the fate of Kibei and Omatsu, the story comes to the assassination of Qingchuan. This scene is the climax of the second act and the most important scene before the fate of the samurai Ryunosuke comes to an end. Comparing this scene with the Dojo Challenge scene in the same second act, we can see that there is a clear contrast between the two. In the challenge scene, Ryūnosuke has a psychological advantage, forcing Toranosuke to take a defensive position; in the snow assassination scene, Toranosuke's killing precepts, superb swordsmanship and strong murderousness completely shocked Ryūnosuke and made him Helping mentally is at a disadvantage, unable to make a shot. Toranosuke did not take advantage of the situation to pursue it. In addition to helping the wooden soldiers and horses fulfill their wishes, he was also cautious in fighting against the beasts. He criticized Ryunosuke for his "evil thoughts and evil swordsmanship". The samurai Kenshin made a further blow, and then left as a victor. In fact, Ryunosuke’s thoughts are not evil, and his swordsmanship is also. His "silent swordsmanship", as his father said, always humbly retreat, retreat, and attack again. At best, it can only be regarded as heresy. In the snowy assassination scene, it was Toranosuke's slaughter that showed the thought of treating human life like grass. Because he thinks he is "right", he regards Ryunosuke as "evil". From then on, Ryunosuke lost the dignity and pride that he had as a samurai, and he finally understood that the samurai ideal he pursued was a fantasy that could never be achieved or recognized. He could only pursue more "evil" Only the "right swordsmanship" of Toranosuke can defeat the "right way" of Torinosuke. It was also from this that he degenerated from a samurai into an "ignorant sword demon" pursuing "evil swordsmanship", which directly led to the subsequent killing of Abin. At the end of this scene, he did not go to a duel with the wooden soldiers and horses as scheduled, which became a clear proof of his betrayal of the samurai way.
After the story enters the third act, the two clues from the second act immediately converge. The choreographer uses only one sequence to form the entire third act, and the rhythm is restored to the concise and clear rhythm of the first act. Asatsu, Shichibei, and Mubeima met in Kyoto, and at the same time they encountered Ryunosuke. The wooden soldiers and horses and the seven soldiers guarded the appearance of Longzhisuke outside the theater. Inside the geisha theater, a drama that mixed conspiracy, betrayal, and killing was officially staged. Asong went to listen to Ryuzhisuke's whereabouts, but misunderstood Serizawa Ya's assassination plan. Serizawa duck wanted to get rid of it and hurry up, but Ryuzhisuke accidentally rescued Asong. This detail once again confirms the contradictory image of Long Nosuke. After Serizawa’s departure, the conversation between the two began to trace back to the past. The Great Buddha Ridge became the meeting point of their memories, making the story a circular structure that echoed from end to end. Later, the shadow of the candle shook red, and the dragon helped the evil spirits, supplemented by the suspicion of the ghosts, the truth is true or the false, the truth is false, which not only avoids the logical problems that this setting may bring, but also makes the dragon help in the evil spirits. The statement is true and credible. After that, the new seng group assassins swarmed in, and the first and last unscrupulous killing by Long Zhisuke after he fell into the evil spirit began. The scene of Serizawa's assassination was inserted on the way, until the ending Ryunosuke was wounded all over, and rushed to the camera-the samurai's end, the political intrigue, so far, it has been exposed incisively and vividly.
This certain pattern at the end of the film creates a refined and fierce image, full of anger and power. It is natural to think of some similar pictures, which are the most classic works of the movie genre mentioned in the opening paragraph. At the end of the western movie "Little Tiger and Leopard King", Butch and the Sun Dance boy rushed out side by side under the rain of bullets; at the end of the martial arts film variant Kung Fu movie "Jing Wu Men", Chen Zhen roared in the air with a kick.
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for the record, the original author in the medium Yamamoto is a poet, and Japanese thinker, a famous socialist movement pioneer fortunate DS Autumn is very good friends, share a common faith and belief in each other; May 1910 "regicide incident" broke out, fortunately DS youthful and Many of his followers were arrested one after another and later killed on charges of rebellion. This incident had a great impact on Zhong Li Jieshan's thoughts. After that, his beliefs began to transform to the direction of Buddhist thought, and he began to write novels. In 1913, he began to write Dahe's novel "Big Buddha Ridge". In the film condensed from the original work, the ups and downs of Ryuujisuke's fate is exactly a Buddhist and Taoist case of "the Bodhi of Shanghai certifies the bodhi, the lowering of sentient beings, and the cause and effect of life and karma".
The theme symbol of the movie "Great Bodhisattva Hill" is the tangible and famous mountain in Japan. It is located in Hagiwara Village, Higashiyamari County, Kai Country (now Yamanashi Prefecture). legend. The Great Buddha Ridge and the top of the mountain it represents have similar symbolic meanings all over the world. In Buddhism, the Great Bodhisattva is the extremely high level reached by physical cultivation, and the place where the Great Bodhisattva lives represents the sacredness; in Christianity, the top of the mountain is also a place full of spiritual symbols, and many important events occur here, such as Moses’ acceptance of ten. commandment. Therefore, at the beginning of the story, Ryunosuke appeared from the Great Buddha Ridge to open the prologue of the story, which became the key starting point for interpreting another image of Ryunosuke.
Here, both in reality and in the story, the Great Bodhisattva collar represents the holy place, and it is also the closest to the place where the gods live. Therefore, at this level of storytelling, Ryunosuke’s life journey (after the Sakurada Gate Incident in 1860) began in the Great Buddha Ridge, which implies that his image (birth) is not generally understood as an "unknown sword demon" and The anti-social nature behind it is just the opposite. Before Ryūnosuke’s life had a clear tendency of good and evil, he actually came to the world as a Buddha or a messenger of the Buddha (to save the world) to help mortals complete their lives. Wish (to save others) and to practice one's own ideas (self-enlightenment) at the same time, is exactly the "entry into the world" that Buddhism must pass through. Therefore, after the pilgrim old man prayed to exchange his life for the happiness of his granddaughter, Ryunosuke who appeared suddenly took her life with a knife. On the surface, it was a cruel sword test by the samurai, but it was actually fulfilling the old man's wish. And this behavior exactly outlines the goal that Ryunosuke pursues in life: using a knife (violent) to realize the wishes of ordinary people, including his own wishes, practicing with the knife to wipe out the chaos of the world, and to use the knife in the world. The concept of saving the world and saving people.
From this perspective, when we look at what Ryunosuke did, we can find that there is actually a heart to save the world hidden under the surface of the cold killing. Killing Wenzhicheng in the first act is a perfection of his samurai dignity, and then killing all the samurai who came to seek revenge in the forest is also based on the core of the samurai spirit of victory; in the second Becoming a killer working for money in the scene is actually to practice his belief in life in a larger space, and this may have a lot in common with the political goals of the new writers group, so he will let Serizawa Ya Afterwards, he killed Abin who was in love with him. The situation at that time was the moment when Abin realized the sins of his life and put his hands together and wished to make atonement for his sins. In the big showdown at the end of the third act, Ryūnosuke has fallen into a magic barrier. The crazy killing is based on inner frenzy, but also contains unconscious self-destructive psychology. Before this, there is a small detail. After Asong accidentally heard the conversation between Ryunosuke and Serizawa, Serizawa asked Ryunosuke to kill people, but Ryunosuke let Asong on the contrary, which also proved from the side. He is not a bloodthirsty person, it is the trace of clarity that remains in this spiritual platform before the destruction, which has accumulated the necessary merits for his thorough understanding.
In the movie, in response to the three-act structure of the story, the image of Big Bodhisattva Hill also appears three times in the story. Except for the sword test at the beginning, the last two times were through oral confession of the characters; one was mentioned in a conversation with his wife Ahama after Ryanosuke killed Kojima for Serizawa; the other was a brothel. In the conversation between Li and Asong, it was mentioned that the aftermath of the enchanted massacre was closely followed. Despite the repeated appearance of this image, the story never deliberately explained the appearance of Da Bo Sa Ling, but deliberately concealed this symbol, and made it ubiquitous by combining it with the image of Ryunosuke. At the end of the story, before Ryūnosuke goes to destruction, the image of Dabosatana appears for the last time, suggesting the right way. The ending of Ryūnosuke is the destruction of the body and the return of the soul to Dabosat. It is a cycle between life and death. . The beginning and the end of the story echo, which can be truly realized. The combination of this image and the character image of Ryunosuke strongly highlights Ryunosuke's inner world of cold and gentle coexistence. Here, Buddha and demons are separated by a single line, the so-called one thought of heaven and one thought of hell.
Based on the clues of this story, Ryunosuke has been practicing his beliefs personally, and his journey of life just constitutes a period of entering the world with a knife, destroying the world, from the Buddha to the devil, and with the destruction of the body in exchange for Nirvana. The proof. He thought that by entering the world with a sword, he would prove the way, but the facts were just the opposite. His beliefs completely deviated from the way of compassion, so he kept falling and going down, and finally he could only prove the way through destruction. In the journey of the fall from Buddha to Demon, Ryunosuke also made three clear changes in his mood corresponding to the three-act structure of the story. The first time was the moment when the woman’s chastity was exchanged for the glory of the samurai; the second was the moment when Toranosuke was criticized (this section actually also had the effect of returning to the right path, but unfortunately it turned out to be a counterproductive effect); At the moment when the illusion was troubled, the mind was blinded and completely transformed into a demon. Although the result was not clearly explained, the dead end still hinted at his ending: physical death and spiritual sublimation (his ending is suggestive in the second act of the story. For the foreshadowing, Ryunosuke’s father asked the wooden soldiers to kill Ryunosuke in order to save him). The character of Long Zhisuke is to "open up the knowledge of all living beings and Buddhas, and appear in the world; to show all beings and Buddhas' knowledge and understanding, appear in the world; to enable all living beings to realize the Buddha's knowledge and experience, and appear in the world; for Let all sentient beings enter the Buddha, know the truth, and appear in the world".
Eight
under these two levels, the story also contains a faint third level, is rebellion and protest, this is a tragic contradiction Dragon help this person included, this is what aroused the audience's sense of identity, At the same time, this is also the reason why the whole story is so contagious. This level is jointly constructed by the above two levels.
On the way of the samurai, the reason why Ryunosuke’s direction was wrong was the interference of external forces. It was his father who chose the direction of his life for him from the beginning, and he was unwilling to accept such an arrangement. The compromising character made him choose to resist, so he unconsciously fell into a situation where he couldn't turn back. The road of the samurai was rewritten since then. From then on, he had to choose to fight against the arrangements of fate with a knife in his hand.
On the way to the world, Ryunosuke’s responsibility should be to save the world and save people. This is the will of the Buddha, but Ryunosuke, who entered the world with a skeptical attitude, was tempted from the beginning (exchanging the wish of happiness with death) . If there is a more direct way to extradite the people who have fallen in the sea of suffering, why do they have to behave? This thought irresistibly tempted him to choose his own method (life is bitter, free from the knife), and then he was even more tempted by beauty, which made him inadvertently exchange the gift of the devil with his soul, and the Buddha and the devil became one mind. It is difficult to distinguish between right and wrong; on the way to the world, Ryunosuke chose to cooperate with a political organization with the same philosophy (to achieve the goal by violence/assassination). .
In the final battle of the third act of the story, the resistance on the two levels was concentrated. He did not avoid it, and opposed a hundred people with one person. It was an unwilling ultimate resistance, but the ending was already predetermined. At that moment, he may only have one thought in his mind: If this life is wrong, then destroy me. The freeze frame at the end of the film appropriately reveals his inner world.
Raising this level of thinking will vaguely have the embryonic form of the revolution, which is exactly the political image mentioned in the previous article. In Ryunosuke's life, resisting rules, destiny, authority, and system, until he drifted away on this road, and finally formed anti-social traits, leading to the destiny of destruction, it was precisely the reason for the astray revolution. miniature. Although there is no definitive information to confirm the reflection on the "great rebellion" of the "Great Bodhisattva Ridge" by Zhong Li Jieshan and how many figures such as Kotoku Shusui are in Ryunosuke's body, Hashimoto Shinobu's refinement has taken it. Political metaphors are further formed, and contemporary thinking should be added to the changes of the times, so the ending of the story naturally has a sense of depression, and the perfect irony effect is achieved in a duality of positive and negative coexistence. The image of the Great Buddha Mountain is also determined by personal fate. It rises to the fate of the group, and then expands to the society, adding an unconscious footnote to the failure of militarism in World War II.
Nine
in depth the whole story, you can find the shadow of Buddhist thought is almost everywhere. One of the most direct examples is the five precepts of Buddhism and their corresponding Longzhisuke's journey of breaking the precepts in life.
Buddhist precepts are a relatively general concept, but the core is undoubtedly the three conversions and five precepts. The three conversions are conversion to the Buddha, to the law, and to the monk. The five precepts are not to kill, not to steal, not to commit adultery, not to lie, and not to drink alcohol.
In "The Great Bodhisattva Ridge", although Ryuzhisuke exists as a saver, his behavior is anti-Buddhist thinking, because his philosophy is based on killing, this article firstly abandons the most basic of Buddhism The precepts also predestined the end of his destruction. Killing is divided into intentional and unintentional, but whether it is intentional or unintentional, killing one person or killing ten people is killing. The ring robbing also has complicated rules. Ryūnosuke's behavior does not seem to touch this ring on the surface, but when Abin asks him to exchange chastity, it still belongs to the category of "force taking" in the ring robbing. Compared with the other precepts, false precepts are the most common and therefore the easiest to be ignored. The many unfulfilled promises made by Ryunosuke and the arrogant and arrogant nature of Ryunosuke violate this precept. The wine precepts are slightly different from the other four precepts. The first four precepts are all sexual precepts, which exist in human nature, and wine is a foreign object. Wine itself is neither good nor evil, but it can help evil with disorder. In addition to being dictated by his nature, Ryūnosuke's killing of Abin and the brothel's demonization also helped him to help evil.
Lust and the content contained in it is one of the focuses of this story. Lust precepts are also sexual precepts, which exist in people's hearts, but lust precepts usually also contain external forces. Ryunosuke's nature is not an adulterer, but the physical exchange proposed by Abin makes him lose his nature. Women, flesh, and lust represent the color barriers in practice. This is an important test in practice. To understand the Great Way, you must break through this barrier. Therefore, in the second act, Ryunosuke kills Abin because of Abin’s madness, and has two deeper meanings: one represents his breakthrough to the physical color barrier; the other is to complete Abin’s thorough understanding. And the end of her life practice. She exchanged her chastity for the honor of a samurai; sacrificed her chastity for her husband but was abandoned; married and had children with the man who killed her husband, and became obsessed with spirit and body until she wanted to kill her second husband. At this moment, she I have only realized my whole life, so I hope to end my sins with Ryuzhisuke's hand, take responsibility for the crimes committed by her, and use her life to atone for the crimes. The relationship between each other can also be mutually reinforcing, mutual cause and effect. In terms of the structure of the story, this section also plays an important role. Because of her special identity, no matter who lives or dies in the subsequent battle between Ryunosuke and Mura Akagi, she is the indirect perpetrator. Her self-sacrifice is certain. To a certain extent, the effect of preventing the two of them from fighting between life and death (the other reason is that Ryunosuke abandons the way of the samurai), so that the story can be developed to the third act.
The above-mentioned Buddhism precepts exist as a whole. As a heresy, Long Zhizhu must abandon all precepts, look for the way out of the world, and practice the concept of self. But when he realized that this life was actually just a wrong path, he woke up but couldn’t. Look back. The shadow of the candle in the brothel was red, and the masterpiece of the heart demon was the last test before the great enlightenment. When he breaks through this barrier and realizes his whole life, he can only obtain liberation in exchange for death and seek the completion of his spiritual path. Therefore, he drew his sword in anger, moths batted to the fire, and he could not evade. There are still many stories in the original work after this, but the movie is really over at this point. Hashimoto Shinobu's out of chapter is truly extraordinary.
Since Buddhism has become the mainstream value of the story, a strong karma theory and a sense of fatalism are naturally indispensable. In addition to the mutual cause and effect between Ryunosuke and Abin, some other important characters in the story also have the same destiny. For example, Mu Lihua, a thought of evil, led to death; Haotian Mu Lihua devoted himself to revenge and betrayed the Buddhist way of tolerance, so his ending was separated by a wall, and it was difficult to fulfill his wish and waited hard; Da Song, because of his grandfather’s wish (Ryuzhisuke degenerates) It seems to be on the path of happiness, but in fact it runs counter to the devil. In the brothel, attracting the dragon to help the evil is revenge for killing the relatives and also paying off the debt for the grandfather (to help the dragon to realize the truth); Qin Ze Ya is a backer Abandoned. The sense of fatalism is mainly reflected in Ryunosuke. His life is fluid, but whether he lives in his hometown, hides in Edo, or fights in Kyoto, he survives in a big net. This is a net made up of people with distant or close relationships, and he can't break free no matter how hard he tries. Therefore, although the story is full of violent killings, the whole film brings a sense of fate and helplessness, which also makes the character of Ryunosuke empathize and arouse the audience's approval from the side.
Ten
tells the story of this complex and chaotic, making it the context of clear and original style, the director needs to have control beyond the ordinary. For Kihachi Okamoto, the most difficult thing is probably not to tell a subtle story. Shinobi Hashimoto’s script is already in front of him. His problem lies in how to create a powerful audiovisual language that complements the content and themes and integrates the film. Elevated to a height that is unattainable in an ordinary era drama.
Corresponding to the background of the story, Kihachi Okamoto creates a chaotic atmosphere. First of all, in the composition, a sense of imbalance is created through the extremely exaggerated perspective ratio relationship between the front and rear scenes. This sense of imbalance produces an inharmonious connection between the characters, and at the same time produces an oppressive contradictory tension. Every shot is full of power. Beyond this, it is the composition that is constantly changing between stability and imbalance. The horizontal and vertical lines of traditional Japanese architecture become important elements of the balance picture here. Corresponding to the plot and characters, through adjustments to the lens, the or The harmonious or sharp background of the picture reflects the inner changes of the characters.
In controlling the rhythm, Kihachi Okamoto uses a different approach from the traditional, that is, the extensive use of mid-range and close-up shots, variable angles, and frequent editing, so that the story forms a concise and lively image style. The passage that can reflect this concise style is a match between Ryūnosuke and Murakaki's soldiers and horses. The internal relationship in this scene is quite complicated. The previous plot has already accounted for all the personnel involved directly and indirectly in this scene. Excluding the indirect persons who are not present, the scene alone includes Ryunosuke and Ahama. , Mura Akagi, his master (dojo), the referee, and the third parties present at the scene, including Kanazawa Serizawa, Isamu Kondo, etc., roughly involved more than six kinds of complex connections, but Kihachi Okamoto only used one A simple montage will explain the connection between them clearly.
Let's take a look at the scene of this Mitake Mountain competition in detail. First, there are four flag shots with different angles, then two drum shots with different angles, and then cut into the wooden frame on the sidelines with the game arrangement; then cut into a close-up shot with Ryunosuke and Fuminojo The wooden row is impressively in line; then cut into a shot zoomed to a close-up of Ryunosuke, and then inserted into the mill scene; took the shot of the samurai drumming; took the host of an ongoing competition; then cut into the zoomed close-up shot of Wenzhicheng, Insert the scene where he divorced his wife before; the competition stopped; the audience thought it was a draw. Behind the scenes, Kondo analyzed that one of the sides won the scene. Serizawa was very impressed, introduced himself, and the two knew each other; Later, the host called Wenzhicheng and Ryuzhisuke to play, and the expressions of Kanazawa Serizawa’s expectation behind Ryunosuke; the two came on the field, the host asked the two and saluted each, and they switched to the close-ups of the three of them. The match started, and the two Confrontation; off the field, cut into the scenes of Kamo Serizawa, Isamu Kondo, and Mr. Bunnojo; the two on the field began to move slowly, still maintaining a confrontation situation, in which the expressions of the three were cut respectively, and then they presided over the squinting stand Get off; the nervous expression of the teacher Cheng below the stage; the next middle shot, including the host, the teacher and the martial arts; the close-up of the text, the sweat oozes faintly on the head, the help of the dragon is indifferent and the head is indifferent to make a lot of time. Close-up; Duck Serizawa exclaimed that it was a duel of life and death; the two on the field were still facing each other; the host turned to stand under the stand; Teacher Wen Zhicheng hesitated for a moment, turned to the host, nodded hint; the host stopped the game , Long Zhizhi breathed out and closed the sword, the wooden soldiers and horses suddenly attacked, Long Zhizhi shot a sword and dodged, Wen Zhicheng rushed off the stage, and the crowd evaded and became a mess; continue Long Zhizhi's sword recovery After the host announced a tie, Ryuzhisuke turned his head; cut into the stage and everyone turned their heads to look at the perspective on the stage; Ryuzhisuke on the stage closed his sword, dissatisfied with presided over the judgment, said he had won, and then stepped down; offstage, Wen Zhicheng was lying on the floor with his head full of blood; taking a distant view, Ryunosuke slowly walked off the stage; off the stage, the camera passed by Kondo (calm), Serizawa (excited) and others; the camera continued to move, the crowd Later, Abin was sitting and squinting, his expression calm.
The above scene lasts about nine minutes, in which skip cuts and close-ups are frequently used. Note that every editing is necessarily accompanied by a change of camera position and viewpoint, and all viewpoints maintain a non-emotional objective viewpoint from beginning to end. Frequent editing and the difference between mirrors create a sense of alienation from this viewpoint. There are only one or two shots in the whole segment that give a slight perspective to the audience's perspective, but the deep meaning of this perspective is to imply the existence of a certain power. He is watching Ryunosuke's words and deeds condescendingly, like Ryunosuke stepping down the stage. The long-term vision is this point of view. This point of view is a key point in the interpretation of the story. After killing the old pilgrim under the leadership of the Great Bodhisattva, after exchanging the samurai soul for the virginity of the woman, killing the warriors who came to seek revenge in the cedar forest, killing by the water ditch After the death of his wife, Ahama, and after being frightened by Toranosuke in the snow battle, there are similar perspective shots.
In the above scene, a nearly rigorous symmetrical composition was used, but the changes in the details are also quite meaningful. For example, at the beginning of the competition, the host as a judge is an incarnation of justice, and the composition just reflects this. In the middle of the competition, after Wen Zhicheng was at a disadvantage, the host decided to call for a tie under the signal of Wen Zhicheng, his heart has already tilted, and the composition did not miss the opportunity to show his inner changes. Another detail change is contained in the character's action. When the two came to the stage, they faced off after a martial arts ritual. The whole picture was a static and symmetrical composition, but after the two started to move, one blade was raised and the other was lowered. , And constitute a dynamic balance, very clever. In addition to showing the difference in swordsmanship between the two, this detail also implies Ryunosuke’s sinking life. Part of the cause is his "evil and heretical" swordsmanship, echoing Ryunosuke’s father’s description of his sword. Judgment of law. But this scene did not fully reflect the characteristics of his swordsmanship, because Ryunosuke agreed to Abin’s request. He did not "seeking victory" on the court, but faced the wooden soldiers and horses in another fair competition. Only then did it fully manifest.
In the internal scheduling of the lens, Kihachi Okamoto is also ingenious. This kind of scheduling mainly uses simple camera movement to match the movement of the characters, which is well reflected in the fight against the Vengeance Warrior in the pine forest. There are also appropriate editing in this scene, but the main part is done in one paragraph shot. Ryunosuke walked forward while swinging his sword, and one samurai was killed in a single blow until everyone fell. This one-shot shot maintains the simple and lively style of rhythm, and contrasts with the quick editing technique.
Eleven
in the story, if Shinobu Hashimoto make good use of the "three" in poetry, this post hi eight make good use of "two" imagery. Mainly reflected in the contrast, parallelism and repetition of certain scenes and shots, it is a very expressive narrative grammar. For example, in the above competition scene, when expressing the mood of the two people before the competition, the two shots are arranged in one place. First, they explain the scene of the mill, and then explain that Wen Zhicheng divorced his wife, and then briefly and powerfully outline the two. The comparison of people's moods hints at the outcome of the contest, which is similar to the application of dialectical montage. Another example is the comparison of the moods of the two in the snow battle detailed in the second section, and the comparison of the moods of the two before in the Toranosuke Dojo; afterwards, the feelings of Ryunosuke's loss and the sword killing of the kendo master Island Shi secretly liked the contrast of mood. Ryunosuke's expression after killing a person in the cedar forest is another analogy with the expression after killing Kojima. There are many similar techniques in the film, all of which effectively outline the trajectory of the changes in Ryuujisuke's mind.
When telling the story, Okamoto Kihachi paid great attention to the use of suggestive details such as symbols and foreshadowing. In the second act, the comprehensive application of the relationship between Ryunosuke and Abin from love to hate is particularly prominent. When expressing the feelings between the two people, three scenes were used to explain. In the three games, Ryunosuke drank. In the first scene, Ryunosuke poured his own wine and drank it. Later, he heard his wife throw away the glass when talking about Wenzhicheng. When talking about her husband, Abin offered incense, but found that the incense was gone; Ikutaro woke up I laughed while I was in, and when Ahama took the knife impulsively, Ikutaro cried again. In the second scene, the two sang together and talked about their plans to visit relatives in the hometown; Abin took the initiative to pour wine for Ryunosuke. In the third scene, Ryunosuke asked for a drink, and Abin told him that it was gone; Ikutaro was sick at this time; a series of problems also occurred between the two; the scene ended with Ikutaro's crying. In these three scenes, there are rich symbols and foreshadowing details, and the subtle changes in the feelings between the two are effectively expressed through different details. In addition to the visual details, there are also sound details. In this film, a notable feature is that there is no soundtrack, only simple sound effects. In addition to its function to set off the atmosphere, it also serves as a suggestive symbol and creative use in transitions.
The use of light and shadow also constitutes an important element of the visual language in this film. The use of light and shadow is particularly prominent in the enchantment and killing in the geisha in the third act. In this scene, the use of light and shadow not only expresses the unexpected, but also directly participates in the narrative. Okamoto Kihachi has other imaginative visual language in this film. First, relatively speaking, he uses more zoom lenses to express the psychological impact of events on the characters; when editing the shots, he uses zoom directly. Matching zoom is a relatively rare practice. The second is the processing of entering and exiting some shots, which is also relatively rare. When entering the painting, the characters face the camera and enter the scene. At the end of the shot, the characters face the camera and exit. This approach not only brings strong visual impact, but also effectively expands. Screen narrative space.
In the film, in order to project the theme and meaning of the story into a wider space, Kihachi Okamoto carefully constructed two image systems. The first is a set of external images constructed with a series of environmental and natural elements. The white snow covered on the mountains, the fog pervading the cedar forest, the heavy rain at the ferry, the snow when the heart is impacted, and the snow when the wife is killed. Streams, the strange light and shadow that were inhumane during the enchantment, the fire and smoke during the killings; combined with the behavior of the characters at the time, the story space was expanded to a mysterious and mysterious space containing heaven and humanity. Another set of image system is a set of internalized complex system. It starts with the image of the Great Bodhisattva Ridge as the watershed between good and evil, combining the words and deeds of (all) the characters in the story, the tendency of good and evil, the life and death ending, and the corresponding characters are led by the Great Bodhisattva. The inner nature of good and evil expresses the causal cycle theme of one thought for good and one thought for evil.
The "Big Bodhisattva Ridge" DVD released by CC features a still picture of Ryuujisuke sprinting away after killing a warrior who came to seek revenge in the woods. The distant view is Ryunosuke's lonely back, the foreground is scattered dead bodies, the forest mist is looming, and the towering old trees farther away, forming the image of a door by Ryunosuke, it is a deep and rich moment. At a similar moment, there is a picture in a geisha house. There is flame on one side and thorns on the other. Ryuzhisuke stands in a frame formed by opening two doors with a knife. The light illuminates him from top to bottom. The background is the shadow of the tree projected by the light, and the two sides faintly return The figure of a warrior who looks at him is also a well-designed scene. The two images above both mentioned the image of the door. In fact, this image roughly constitutes a system in the film, but because it involves more compositional factors and is too intuitive, this image is not included in the image system. .
Twelve
in with the waves help drifting Dragon journey of life, his heart has a strong spiritual faith sustained him, embodies the outside is breathtaking momentum and power of the flesh, as if his body captivity with an uneasy The demon of beast, will break out of shackles at any time, this happens to form a sharp contrast with his thin body. The somber and introverted Tatsuya Nakadai is indeed the best candidate to interpret this role. No matter the appearance or temperament, he seems to be tailor-made. Nakadai Tatsuya should be around thirty-three years old when he played this role, which was the golden age of a man.
In order to appropriately represent Ryunosuke's physical characteristics, Nakadai Tatsuya adopted an unusually restrained body posture. The shoulders are lifted and the body is straight, but the head is often drooping. The whole shape is like an unsheathed knife. When he raises his head, he opens his eyes wide, but his eyes are stray and out of focus, exposing his wandering heart; when he walks. His muscles are tight, he is cautious step by step, like defensive but also like a charge, he can initiate a killing at any time; his laugh is usually initiated from the corner of his mouth, and forcefully restrains the muscles, forming a hideous expression; he rarely faces directly when looking at people , Always squint or look around...All this requires actors to have good physical strength and physical training to be consistent throughout the film. The 33-year-old Nakadai Tatsuya happens to have both of these points. If it is the fifty-year-old Tatsuya Nakadai, it is difficult to achieve this kind of effect of both form and spirit. When an actor passes his middle age, his spirits and spirits begin to lose weight, and he is unable to express this ubiquitous and deep-rooted sense of sharpness. Like the young Mifune Toshiro shines in Kurosawa Akira's samurai movies, most of the samurai images played after his middle age are mediocre, lacking the kind of direct charm.
In addition to making good use of body language, Nakadai Tatsuya's use of eyes and detailed movements is also superb. Because of the many close-ups and close-up shots in the film, the eyes often become the focus of the picture. Tatsuya Nakadai responds to events of different intensities and natures with distinct levels and different depths of immediate response. Here, his eyes become the focus of immediate response, either indifferent, calm, or staring, confused, or innocent, or Firmness or anger...under the emphasis of the light in the eyes, it appropriately reveals the deep inner world of the character; on this basis, the director combines his performance with camera movement and editing, and completes the interpretation of the character through the audience's understanding of the event , Natural, smooth and very convincing. In some scenes, when close-ups were less used, Tatsuya Nakadai added a lot of detailed actions, revealing the character's psychology through the contrast of the scene atmosphere, expressions and actions. For example, in the first act, when he was talking with his father, tapping his tail finger on his knees revealed his unwillingness; in the second act, when he accepted the task of assassinating the kendo master Kojima, the hand holding the wine glass trembled slightly to express The mentality of expecting and uneasy before facing a powerful enemy, while laying the groundwork for the ecstasy after the murder; in the scene of meeting Kamio Flagmoto with his companions, he sneered at Kamio...These details may be independent or echoed, relying on the story. The plot clearly depicts Ryunosuke's inner world.
The performance characteristics of Nakadai Tatsuya are in the same line as traditional Japanese performing arts. They have a considerable part of the artistic characteristics derived from Zen, that is, asymmetry, simplicity, sophisticated, natural, hidden, unconventional and tranquil. Nakadai Tatsuya's enlightening performance in this film is a textbook example of the above rules.
Looking back at that period of time that has long become history, in the early 1960s, Nakadai Tatsuya starred in Kobayashi Masaki's "Slitting the Abdomen" and "Ghost Talk" respectively. After "The Great Bodhisattva Hill" in 1968, he starred as Okamoto Kihachi. Okamoto’s "Meat Bullet"; and Okamoto Kihachi filmed "The Servant" in 1965, and "Meat Bullet" and "Cut" in 1968. The above-mentioned films have become classics in the history of Japanese cinema. In the golden age of Nakadai Tatsuya's career as an actor, it coincided with the peak of the history of Japanese film development. Cooperating with many master directors who were at the climax of creative creation was truly a wonderful encounter.
Thirteen
The only thing in this movie that gives people the feeling of "meeting the throat" is that it is too obscure about the complicated relationship between Ryunosuke and Abin. A large part of Abin's feelings for Ryunosuke, from unknown to last to being entrusted to his life, should be attributed to the spiritual infatuation brought about by the complete conquest of the body. In a scene in the mill, I used the brush to oversimplify, and used the image of stone mortar and pounding rice to imply the impact of eroticism. The intensity was slightly monotonous and insufficient, which could not effectively complete this key subversive transformation, and at the same time failed to reflect the body of Ryunosuke. The magic contained within. (If it were me, I would arrange an SM drama here, let Ryunosuke's agitation with abusive lust, conquer Abin with all his heart, and then the calm performance of Abin when he died, it is perfect. .) The
deeper the story, the more you feel the subtle design of this movie. Sometimes I think, if this is a color movie, adding color changes and color contrast to it, I don’t know what kind of magnificence it should be? It is indeed a masterpiece that we have overlooked for a long time, but it may also be too sophisticated (and some of the values contained in the theme have been discarded in the contemporary era), which prevents it from becoming a great movie. However, among all the samurai movies, there is only one "Seven Samurai" that is considered a great one.
Related information:
○List of movies adapted from
Nakari Jieshan’s novel "Da Bo Sa Ling" 1935.11.15 The first piece of the Great Bodhisattva Pass, the first piece of the source of the sword,
Nikka Kyoto,
1936. 23 Great
Bosatsu Pass, Koga Ichitoru, Toei, Kyoto 1953.06.03 Great Bosatsu Pass, Part 2 Mibu and Shimabara’s Vol. 3
Wagami Cemetery, Toei Kyoto 1953.06.17 Great Bossat Pass, Third Vol.
1957.07.13 Dabosatsu Pass, Toei Kyoto
1958.04.21 Dabosatsu Pass, Toei Kyoto , Part 2
1959.04.28 Dabosatsu Pass, Toei Kyoto, Toei Kyoto
1960.10.18 Daebosatsu Pass, Oei, Kyoto
1960.12.27 Daebosatsu Pass, Lingshen, Oei, Kyoto,
1961.05.17 Daebosatsu Pass, Ending, Oei, Kyoto,
1966.02.25 Daebosat Pass, Takarazuka Screening
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